Vaccinating instrument



April 19, 1955 w. M. SUTTON 2,706,481

VACCINATING INSTRUMENT Filed Dc. 18, 1955 20 INVENTOR '0 WILLIAM MIMMS SUTTON WLQQWMYTI ATTo 5Y5 United States Patent VACCINATING INSTRUMENT William Mimms Sutton, Marfa, Tex.

Application December 18, 1953, Serial No. 398,973

9 Claims. (Cl. 128-253) The present invention relates to a vaccinating instrument and has for an object the provision of a device of this kind adapted for use in vaccinating animals, such as sheep or the like, against sore mouth or other diseases to which animals are susceptible and against which known vaccines are effective.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an instrument of this character with which the last stroke of the scarifying step and the vaccine applying step constituting the vaccinating operation can be performed by one continuous movement of the instrument in one direction.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a vaccinating instrument of this type in which the scarifier and the vaccine discharge means are both carried by the vaccine reservoir in such a manner that it eliminates the possibility of the user accidently vaccinating himself when carrying the instrument from one place of use to another.

The present invention aims to provide an instrument of this kind in which the scarifier is so mounted that a more secure foundation and greater leverage is afforded for the scarifier.

The present invention also aims to provide a vaccinating instrument in which the scarifier and the vaccine discharge means are so relatively mounted on the vaccine reservoir that the scarifier and the area scratched by the scarifier will serve as a guide for the discharge means to follow.

The present invention contemplates the provision of an instrument of this type in which the vaccine discharge means comprises a resilient element which is held in its operative position by the scarifier.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be hereinafter more fully described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings in which the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the device constructed in accordance with the present invention and showing in phantom lines the device in the initial step of the vaccination operation as applied to the leg of an animal,

Figure 2 is a fragmentary elevational view of the device showing it in full lines and in phantom lines during subsequent steps of the vaccination operation,

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the upper part of the device with the scarifier in elevation,

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 44 of Figure 3, and

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the scarifier.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, indicates a container for holding vaccine or the like. The container may be made of glass or any other suitable material and has a screw threaded neck 11 which receives the depending screw threaded skirt 12 of a cap 13. The cap 13 has a substantially centrally located screw threaded opening 14 formed therein for receiving the lower externally screw threaded end portion 15 of a housing 16. A sealing gasket 17 is held in liquid tight engagement by the cap 13 against the upper edge of the neck of the container 10 and the outer face of the lower end portion of the housing 16.

At the upper end of the screw threads on the portion 15, the housing 16 has formed thereon a non-circular or nut like portion 18 which extends outwardly therefrom. A

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sealing gasket 19 is clamped by the nut 18 into liquid tight engagement with the upper face of the cap 13 and the threads of the lower end portion 15 of the housing 16.

The housing 16 may be of any desired material and shape but is shown to be made of metal and tubular and open at both ends. Intermediate its upper and lower ends the housing 16 has formed therein a pair of aligned substantially diametrically disposed openings 19 through which extends a scarifier or knife 20 so that the blunt or butt end portion 20a of the scarifier extends beyond the housing 16 in one direction, the sharp edge portion 20b extends beyond the housing in a substantially diametrically opposite direction and the intermediate portion 200 lies within the housing 16. The scarifier is rigidly fixed to the housing 16 in any suitable manner, such as by welding, indicated at 21.

The upper end portion of the tubular housing 16 is bent inwardly as at 22 to form a circular valve seat 23 for a ball valve 24, the diameter of which is greater than that of the discharge opening defined by the circular seat. The ball valve 24 is received by the uppermost convolution of a coil spring 25, the lowermost convolution of which abuts against the upper surface of the intermediate portion 200 of the scarifier 20. The spring 25 is tensioned so as to urge the ball valve upon its seat 23.

In the use of the device, the housing 16 will be mounted on the container of vaccine 10 by screwing the lower end portion 15 of the housing into the cap 13. The user will grasp the container 10 in his hand and his thumb will engage the end of the butt 20a of the scarifier. The device will be brought into proximity to a part of the body of the animal to be vaccinated, such as a leg 26 of a sheep or the like. The operator will scratch or scarify an area 27 of the skin of the animal by a back and forth or a counterclockwise and clockwise motion of the instrument while the edge of the knife 20 is held in contact with the skin of the animal. At the end of the last skin scratching stroke in a counterclockwise direction, the instrument will be tilted to the phantom line position of Figure 1 and the operator will continue to move the edge of the scarifier 20 and the upper 'tip of the ball valve 24 will travel in an arcuate path, as indicated by the line A in Figure 1 of the drawings.

This scarified area will serve as a guide for the ball valve 24 to follow. The starting position of the device is shown in full lines in Figure 1 of the drawings and the position of the device at the completion of the first or scarifying step is illustrated in phantom lines of Figure 1.

In Figure 2 the position of the device at the beginning of the second or vaccine applying step is shown in full lines and its position at the end of this second step is illustrated in phantom lines. It will be noted that in the Figure 2, full line position of the device, the level of the vaccine is indicated at X so that the vaccine is in a position to flow outwardly through the discharge opening of the housing 16 as soon as the ball valve 24 is unseated.

As the ball valve and the discharge opening travel along the arcuate path indicated by the arrow 28, the operator will exert, in the direction indicated by the arrow 29, a slight pressure of the ball valve against the scarified area of the animal sufficient to overcome the force of the spring 25 and to unseat the valve and permit one or two drops of the vaccine to flow upon the scarified area. When the ball valve is relieved of the pressure exerted by the operator the spring 25 will automatically at once return the ball valve to its seat and instantly shut off the flow of the vaccine,

The knife 20 not only serves as a scarifier for scratching the skin of an animal to be vaccinated, but on account of its being carried by the housing 16 below and at substantially right angles to the valve and the axis of the discharge opening it has a more secure foundation and better leverage than in other relative positions, for example, when the scarifier and the valve are in axial alignment. This angularly displaced arrangement of the scarifier and valve also eliminates the possibility of the user vaccinating himself when carrying the device from place to place. For example, if the device is being carried in the pocket of the user and the sharp edge of the knife scratches the skin of the user, no vaccine can enter the wound due to the remoteness of the discharge opening.

The knife and the valve are also in the same vertical plane so that movement of the device in an arc in one direction causes the valve to follow the area scratched by the knife. The area scratched by the knife may be of any desired size, for example, one-fourth inch square, in which case the knife could have a width of one-fourth inch.

The knife 20 also provides a thumb engaging portion 20a for affording a secure hold on the device and assisting the user to exert more force on the sharp edge of the knife. Moreover, the knife serves as an abutment for the spring 25 which urges the ball valve against its seat.

In Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, the device is shown as being applied to the animal in a standing position. It is to be understood, however, that the animal may be lying on its side or other suitable position during the vaccinating operation. Under these conditions, the container 10 will be substantially inverted so that even if only a very small amount of the vaccine remains in the container the proper amount of vaccine will flow past the valve.

In order to obtain the best results an area over a bone on the inside of a hind leg of the animal should be scratched and the vaccine applied to such scratched area.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction and design of the above specifically described embodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of the following claims.

What I claim is:

l. A vaccinating instrument comprising a tubular member having a vaccine discharge opening, a scarifier on said member, and spring loaded valve means for controlling said opening, said scarifier providing an abutment for the spring.

2. A vaccinating instrument comprising a housing having a vaccine discharge opening, a scarifier on said housing, spring loaded valve means for controlling said opening, said scarifier providing an abutment for the spring and having a thumb engaging portion.

3. A vaccinating instrument comprising a housing having a vaccine discharge opening, a scarifier on said housing, spring loaded valve means for controlling said opening, said scarifier providing an abutment for the spring and having a thumb engaging portion, said discharge opening being located at the outer end of the housing, said scarifier being positioned intermediate the inner and outer ends of the housing and with its cutting edge spaced from the housing and being disposed at substantially right angles to the axis of the discharge opening and the valve and in the same vertical plane as the opening and valve.

4. For use with a vaccine container having a cap provided with a screw threaded opening, a vaccinating instrument comprising a tubular member open at both ends, screw threaded means on said member adapted to cooperate with the screw threaded opening in the cap for mounting the member on the container with one open end of the member in communication with the vaccine in the container and the other open end constituting a discharge outlet, a scarifier extending through said member intermediate the open ends thereof and fixed thereto and having a cutting portion projecting from one side of the member, a butt portion extending from the opposite side thereof and an abutment portion lying within the member, a

valve seat on the discharge outlet end of the member, a valve for controlling the flow through said discharge outlet, and a resilient element confined between said valve and the abutment portion of the scarifier.

5. A vaccinating instrumentcomprising a container for vaccine, a cap thereon having a screw threaded opening, a hollow housing having both ends open and having a depending exteriorly screw threaded portion received by the opening in said cap, a sealing element between said container and said cap and engaging said depending portion of the housing, a nut on said housing, a sealing element between said cap and nut and engaging said depending portion of the housing, one of the open ends of the housing serving as an inlet for vaccine to enter the housing and the other open end of the housing serving as a discharge outlet for the vaccine, a spring loaded valve for controlling the flow of vaccine through the discharge outlet, and a scarifier fixed to the housing and having a scratching portion extending to one side of the housing, an abutment portion supporting the spring for the valve and a butt portion extending from the opposite side of the housing and cooperating with the container for providing a hand grip for the instrument.

6. A vaccinating instrument comprising a member having a valve controlled vaccine discharge opening, and a scarifier on said member, the axes of said scarifier and discharge opening being at an angle of the order of ninety degrees to one another.

7. A vaccinating instrument comprising a member having a valve controlled vaccine discharge opening, and a scarifier on said member having a cutting edge, said cutting edge and said discharge opening being operatively remote from one another.

8. A vaccinating instrument comprising a member having a valve controlled vaccine discharge opening, and a scarifier on said member having a cutting edge for scratching a skin area to be treated with the vaccine from the discharge opening, said cutting edge and discharge opening being so relatively positioned on said member that, in order to bring the discharge opening into its discharging position with respect to the scratched skin area, it is necessary to move the member to a position in which the cutting edge of the scarifier is removed from the scratched skin area to prevent excessive scratching of said skin area.

9. A vaccinating instrument comprising a member having a valve controlled vaccine discharge opening, and a scarifier on said member having a cutting edge for scratching a skin area to be treated with the vaccine from the discharge opening, said cutting edge and discharge opening being so relatively positioned on said member that, in order to bring the discharge opening into its discharging position with respect to the scratched skin area, it is necessary to move the member to a position in which the cutting edge of the scarifier is removed from the scratched skin area to prevent excessive scratching of said skin area and the member may be moved by a continuous motion thereof in one direction during the last scarifying stroke of the cutting edge and the vaccine applying operation of the discharge opening.

Sterling Dec. 13, 1936 Del Pico Nov. 11, 1952 

